Background
The Metal Supported Cell (MSC) is an alternative Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) concept which is mainly developed for mobile applications because of its better stability against mechanical and thermal shock in comparison to the state-of-the-art Anode Supported Cell technology. In the MSC concept, a porous ferritic steel substrate is used to guarantee the mechanical stability of the cell. Since this concept is still in its beginnings, intensive research is needed to make this technology ready for commercialization. Modelling of the electrochemical performance of such a cell depending on structural and operating parameters is an important step to understand and further improve this cell concept. The aim of this master thesis is to set up an elementary kinetic model that can simulate the impedance response of Ni/YSZ Anodes under a set of different microstructural and operational parameters.

Your task
The aim of this Master thesis is to develop an elementary kinetic submodel to calculate the impedance respsonse of the Ni/YSZ anode in a Metal Supported Cell. For the calculation of the faradic current, a detailed electrochemical reaction mechanism should be the basis. In addition to this, the diffusion of gaseous species through the porous anode layers should be considered. The model is intended to be implemented in MATLAB or SIMULINK.

Tasks that should be dealt with in the thesis:

Literature research on reaction mechanisms/diffusion on the anode side

Literature research on impedance modelling

Modelling in MATLAB/Simulink

Parameter Study with different microstructural and operational parameters